Yolanda Curtis
Operating Unit Director, Northrop Grumman
In 2019, Yolanda Curtis was tapped to transition from leading a portfolio of health IT programs, to the director for the entire Health Protection Solutions Operating Unit. She was chosen for her focus on top program performance, business growth and building strong teams where employees can work at their best. She also has high employee engagement and low attrition, even in this competitive job market.
“Every day, at Northrop Grumman, we are defining possible,” Curtis said. “This means we are always questioning, problem solving, designing and building solutions for our customers’ toughest problems; things that seem impossible, until we prove they are not.”
For example, Northrop focuses on innovations that ultimately help keep people safe and secure, and its teams thrive at the intersection of technology, innovation and creativity.
“And at the heart of everything we do is our relentless focus on quality, integrity and high ethical standards,” Curtis added.
Right now, Northrop’s priority is helping customers fight COVID-19.
Curtis’ Health Protection Solutions Operating Unit delivers services and solutions associated with providing the global health community with agile IT and solutions to promote health, prevent disease and prepare for and respond to adverse health events domestically and internationally.
“We have been investing in innovative IT solutions such as microservices to build integrated, scalable platforms across multiple cloud environments that enable health partners to send disease surveillance standards-based messages and conduct timely analysis across data from numerous sources,” Curtis explained.
Plus, her team is using artificial intelligence and deep learning to address emerging threats and improve the nation’s synthetic biodefense capability through detection of artificial changes in organisms.
Why Watch:
In 2020 and beyond, Curtis’ focus is to ensure her organization continues to be a health IT market leader. It’s not enough to maintain their standing, but she is looking to grow and expand into new areas where she can leverage the power of Northrop Grumman for customers’ technological advancement and digital transformation. Working with her teams and customers, Curtis looks to create breakthroughs that address emerging disease threats (e.g. COVID-19) in this ever-shrinking world.